Box-operating mechanism



w. ZEEDYK.

BOX OPERATING MECHANISM.

m 9 1 1 1 W M d .w D m P m. 5 V- A M D u N 0 H A m n P A 2 SHEETS-SHEET l-' IIVVENTOH; William Zeea'l K,

WITNESS A w r A TTORNEY.

W. ZEEDYK.

BOX OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1 919.

1,339,999. Patented May 11, 1920.

w/ss Y 2 l/WE/VTOQ W, W winiwmzeeclrk' I: ATTOR'NEK' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM ZEEDYK, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, 'ASSIGNOR TO BENJAMIN EASTWOOD COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

BOX-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1920.

Application filed May 5, 1919. Serial No. 294,927.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM Znnnxx, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-Operating Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention is an improvement in box operating mechanisms for looms of that kind which is characterized by the use of intermeshing gears. The invention results in a much simpler and more substantial and durable construction than these mechanisms have heretofore possessed, and in addition it makes it possible to equip an old loom with a box operating mechanism with slight changes in the loom itself, and it involves certain other and special advantages, namely, in respect to the mounting of the gears, the timing of the shifting of the boxes with reference to the picking motion, and the mounting of the box structure on the box operating rod.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved mechanism in position on a loom;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof on a lar er scale;

ig. 3 is a plan of the box operating lever;

Fig. 4 shows the connection between the box structure and its operating rod;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the pair of gears and the holding pawl for the driven gear;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the driven gear, showing the manner of connecting the pitman 12 thereto;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating the driving gear and its mounting; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are a side and a rear elevation of the main bracket for supporting the moving parts.

In the drawings a is the frame of the loom and b the tappet shaft from which the picker sticks are actuated, the same being rotated at constant speed by any suitable means (not shown). 0 designates the boxes movable rectilineally up and down in the guideways (Z in the batten e in the usual manner, and f is the box operating rod which (containing some well known means, as f, not necessary to describe herein, for allowing the efiective length of the rod to change should the boxes become jammed, as by an improperly boxed shuttle) is connected at its lower end with one end of the box operating lever g. The center of motion of the boxes in moving back and forth with the batten (to wit, the shifting axis at the point where the rod f is connected with the lever g) is generally not coincident with the center of motion of the batten (to wit, the shaft h, which affords the axis of movement of the lay swords 2' carrying the batten), and on this account in the usual construction the rod 7' is allowed to yield or flex somewhat, which causes a binding of the boxes in their guideways, unless of course the boxes are somewhat loose in their guideways, either of which expedients is obviously very undesirable. Again, since the boxes in the usual construction are rigidly secured to the upper end of the rod, a jam caused by the box structure moving when a shuttle is only partly housed will result in such a bending of the parts that one end of the boxes will be higher than the other, that is, the boxes will not remain truly horizontal, which is necessary in order to direct the flight of the shuttle in strict parallelism with the lay or batten and insure against its being thrown out of the loom. In order to overcome this difiiculty I provide the connection between the boxes and the rod f shown in Figs. 1 and 4:- That is: a bracket 5;" is secured to the under side of the boxes. and the upper end of the rod 7 has a head 70, and connecting the bracket 7' and head 70 is a coupling Z which is pivoted in the bracket 9' on an axis m extending transversely of the loom and in the head 70 on an axis. n transversely of the axis m, the axis nbeing afforded by a bolt having a nut 0 to clamp the head 70 fast to the coupling. By this connection the rod 7 and boxes are connected on a pivot m which allows the boxes to move up and down in their guideways in a perfect rectilineal path, without lost motion in the guideways and without flexing of the rod in the back and forth motion of the boxes with the batten; and if a'iam occurs and results in disturbing the alinement of the boxes the proper adjustment can beeflt'ected at n, 0. it being understood that the nut 0 is usually screwed up tight so that the coua fulcrum for the lever g. In this bracket, in arms 8 projecting therefrom is fulcrumed a lever structure including a horizontal shaft 25, an arm a fixed to the shaft and adapted to be connected to a dobby or equivalent by the wire o, and a shifting fork to which latter will be described in detail; the lever referred to is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 2 by -a spring 00 connecting one arm of the fork 20 with the bracket ,7).

The driven gear member 3 is journaled on a stud' .2 projecting from the bracket p. It has sets ofv segmental peripheral teeth (in the present case two) the first teeth 2 in eachset being appreciably thicker and more substantial than the other teeth; the two sets ofteeth are in the same plane. Formed integral with and on-the back of the gear is a stop wheel 3 having diametrically opposite arc-shaped recesses 4:. The front of the gear-has a radial housing formed with a radial outside slot 6, the housing and slot being open at the periphery. The slotted housing receives the headed end of a bolt 7 on which are a bushing 8 provided with a flange or head 9 at .its inner end, a washer l0-to bear against the outer end of the bushing and a nut 11, the parts 7 to 11 forming in effect a wristpin which may obviously be adjusted radially of the gear. The bushing forms abearing for the upper end of a pitman 12- connected to the rear endflof the lever g;

The driving gear 13 has a set of peripheral teeth extending only part way around its periphery, the first tooth '14 being thicker and more substantial than the others; the remainder of'thegear periphery is made' neutral, as by being within the circle occupied by the toothed portion. The gear has'a forwardly projecting hub 15 provided with a peripheral groove 16, and its bore is formed with a longitudinal groove 17. The axial support for the gear is a sleeve 18 which is slipped onto the projecting end of'the tappet shaft Z) and may be rotatively adjustably securedthereto by: a

set screw 19 preferablytappedjinto anenlarg'ement or hub 20 at the'inner endof the sleeve. Set in the sleeve is a key or feather 21 engaged'in' the groove 17 of the gear, which is thus spl'ined to the sleeve, and on the outer end of the sleeve is secured a collar 22, said collar and the hub2-0 being spaced atsuch a distance that when the gear 13 abuts the h'nb'it is in the sameplane with and will i'ntermesh with the gear ;2 and when it abuts the collar it is clear of the gear 3/ and may rotate without actuating it.

Theaforementioned shifting fork 10 engages-with its pins 23 in the groove 16 of gear 13 and in the preferred construction this fork is formed with its fork proper'24ipivoted in a socket 25 of the lever structure a, t, w so that the fork proper may turn on an axis radial with respect to the fulcrum of said lever structure; this insures the pins 23 engaging without undue binding and hence without undue wear in the groove 16 of gear 13.

Between rotary impulses imparted to the gear y by gear 13 the former should be held stationary. To this end, a holding pawl is provided, the same consisting of a lever 26 fulcrumed in the bracket 19 and equipped with the roller 27 which bears against the periphery of the stop wheel 3 of gear 3 and at the holding periods engages in the recesses l of the stop wheel, thev pawl being held against the periphery of the stop wheel by a spring 28.

Subject to the spring at the gear 13 normally stands out of position to intermesh with and actuate the gear 1 in conse uenge of which the boxes remain stationary. pen the call of the dobby, however, and through the medium of the lever structure a, t, w, the gear 13 is from time to time shifted into the plane of the gear y, so that on every rotation of the sleeve 18, and consequentl'y of gear 13, with the shaft Z) gear 13 will turn gear y a half revolution, thus moving the boxes up or down through the connections described, leaving them at a standstill between movements.

My box operating mechanism is practically wholly self-contained, so that to equip a loom therewith it is only necessary to bolt the bracket 39 to the loom frame and secure the sleeve 18 carrying the gear 13 onshaft Z2. As to this sleeve it serves both as a means to allow the gear 13 to be shifted longitudinally of the shaft while fixed-to turn therewith and as a means to rotativelyadjustthe gear on the shaft, whereby to time the movements of the boxes with the picking motion of the loom so that the twowill occur in proper synchrony.

Collar 22, which affords a stop device for gear: 13 under the pressure of spring may be shifted and seeurediinwardso as to hold gear 13 in the same planev as gear: 1 against the tension ofspring av, so that the shifting of the boxes Will continueregularly, which is desirable in the weaving. of certain fabrics.

In box operating mechanisms of this class the driven gear (or a part of the same) has heretofore been the shiftable one. In orderto obtain the connection with the lever g or equivalent this led to complications and to weakness of structure. In my arrangement the shifting member is the driving one, so that the mechanism is simplified and becomes more substantial andv durable.

Having thus fully described: my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a supporting structure.

including a rotary shaft, an axial supporting member rotatively adjustable on the shaft, a shiftable shuttle box structure, means to impart shifting motion from said rotary element to the box structure including a driven gear journaled in the supporting structure on an axis parallel with said shaft and a driving gear splined on said axial supporting member and shiftable thereon into and out of the plane of the driven gear and adapted to mesh with the latter when in said plane, and means to shift said driving gear back and forth.

2. In combination, a supporting structure including a rotary element, a shiftable shuttle box structure, means to impart shifting motion to said boxstructure including a pair of gears having parallel axes and arranged one on said element and shiftable thereon into and out of the plane of the other gear and adapted to mesh therewith when in said plane, a stop device to limit the shifting movement of the shiftable gear in one direction, said stop device being arranged on said element and adjustable thereon in the opposite direction, and yielding means normally urging said shiftable gear toward the stop device.

3. In combination, with the up and down rectilinear guideways of a batten structure, a shuttle box structure arranged and movable in said guideways, a box operating rod extending upwardly, and a pivotal coupling between the upper end of the rod and said box structure having its pivoting axis extending transversely of the loom, said coupling being adjustable on the rod on an axis extending substantially from front to rear of the loom.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM ZEED YK. 

